IT: A Tool To Fight Recession, Grow Your Business

While IT budgets have often been cut during the economic slowdown, information technology is actually one of the best tools for reversing the slowdown. So said Howard Rubin of Rubin Worldwide at the SIM CIO Executive Leadership Summit I attended yesterday.

While IT budgets have often been cut during the economic slowdown, information technology is actually one of the best tools for reversing the slowdown. So said Howard Rubin of Rubin Worldwide at the SIM CIO Executive Leadership Summit yesterday.

Rubin told us that the world spends $4.2 trillion on IT each year, which is the equivalent of $701 per person alive. He said the U.S. spends a little over $3,500 per person, contrasted with over $5,000 in Europe and about $3,000 in Japan, but only $21 in Zimbabwe. Countries and companies using IT to increase business create jobs, Rubin said, and drive exports, but the measure we have for measuring IT productivity are often wrong or misleading. In general, companies that can successfully leverage technology for operations and to foster innovation are the business leaders.

Speakers in other sessions echoed that message, with Terex CIO Greg Fell, Korn/Ferry's Mark Polansky, and others saying that only IT had a real view of everything the whole company was working on: This is why CIOs should be part of the executive leadership.

Another interesting session featured Andre Mendes of the Special Olympics, who talked about the benefits of working for a non-profit organization. As CIO, Mendes said, he completely changed the way IT worked at the Special Olympics. He suggests the rules for a non-profit are to consolidate everything from the wires to the applications, virtualize everything, co-locate as much as possible, and either "cloud it or be the cloud." His organization uses the cloud for horizontal applications but is building an internal cloud for its own vertical applications (such as hosting a Special Olympics in a particular country).

As a result, Mendes has basically eliminated downtime and standardized applications across the globe in two data centers. All his users are running Windows 7 and Citrix virtual desktops, as well as hosted Exchange and other applications. This means he needs to focus very little on the technology; as a result he was promoted to senior VP of strategic planning. Mendes sad he had to get most of the technology donated because of the economics of non-profits, but that working for a non-profit was quite fulfilling, providing benefits other than the monetary ones.

Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com
Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality and presentation of the world's largest computer publication.
Until late 2006, Miller was the Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media, responsible for overseeing the editorial positions of Ziff Davis's magazines, websites, and events. As Editorial Director for Ziff Davis Publishing since 1997, Miller took an active role in...
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